TEK Nemesis

I fully agree about the 24" one. The one that you linked here looks great. Too bad it doesn't ship to Canada or I'd pick a bunch up. EDIT: Just placed an order through the cablewholesale site. They didn't have the 24" but that's okay for me.

https://www.amazon.com/WD-Blue-2TB-Hard-Drive/dp/B013QFRS2S/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=wd+blue+2tb+5400&qid=1556820661&s=gateway&sr=8-1

I'd stay away from the 7200 drives. They add heat and arguably no performance gain for the Xbox. Go for a WD Blue 5400 2TB 3.5".

yes

Having a better modchip may add a few bells and whistle that are cool in the beginning but don't really change anything in the end. I've got a particular modchip in an Xbox simply because I needed it for an LCD panel. It looks neat but the chip didn't do a single thing different other than permit the use of an LCD, which is something that doesn't really do anything but look different/unique. If you have a plain looking Xbox then just TSOP it or install an Aladdin XT Plus2. Once you've got your Xbox prepared, you will certainly shift focus to what you want installed on it and how cool the dashboard will look (and run). LOL.

Like @Ging3rguy, I have used the StarTech 18". I have also used a black MSI 18" cable. There's a junky, super bright yellow one that I bought off of Amazon and the middle connector slid up and down the ribbon cable so I'd stay far away from that one. If you want to connect the DVD drive, you just need to flip the cable around so that the blue connector goes into the HDD adapter. Just go slow and fold the cable properly so that the top lid doesn't poke into the cable close to where the screw goes to fasten the HDD plastic caddy to the DVD drive caddy. You can opt for a 24" cable but they are more expensive.

Yes, that one. 2TB should be all you need. 3TB if you want a smidgen more but you won't be able to take advantage of the extra 1 TB.

Thank you.

insulate the 2 solder points shown in green?

I'll give this a try, @Frank D'Agostino. Thank you!!!

Just finished making this cable and I do agree that it is the best one that I have ever seen. Thank you, @Cian Cunningham!!!

I was looking something up today and saw a nice diagram for drawing power from the bottom of the motherboard. (Credit: pablot.com but it not longer exists.) You can get some nice 5V 40mm case fans everywhere. I like the Noctua ones (NF-A4X10-FLX 5V).

That's awesome! Welcome! I just did the same but I was thinking about myself, not my kids. LOL! I noticed that some of the games that used to work weren't working anymore so that prompted me to want to open it back up and replace the HDD. Then I saw this forum and every day since I've been dreaming about OG Xboxes again. LOL!

I wonder if simply channeling the air flow properly over the heatsinks would be a better idea. Maybe with one 40mm fan to pull in, channeled over the heatsinks and then another 40m fan to direct hot air out. I guess if the channeling was good enough, you probably wouldn't need a second fan unless you wanted to use a second 40 mm to rush air past the HDD.

Sorry to hear about your death... wait... who is typing this for you? Glad to have you on board. This is a great place with lots of helpful (and cynical) people. :)

That's a lot of fans. Do you really think you need it? (Why?) Back in the day I added an extra 40mm fan to the bottom of my HDD only because I was fooled into thinking that a 7200 RPM HDD was a better choice. Now, I use 2 TB WD Blue 5400 RPM HDDs that stay nice a cool in comparison to the 7200 RPM HDDs. No extra fan is necessary with the 5400 RPM HDDs. I always replace the stock fan now. My preference is with an 80mm Noctua. It is silent and takes care of the heat very nicely. There is no reason to add extra cooling for my setup. In the past I did typically source power from the wires that power the HDD. There are even adapters which plug right into the 4-pin molex that provides your HDD with power if you don't feel up to tapping into the original wires. Regards.

LOL.

I first thought it read, "Video Game Activist Group". I got all excited...

I saw them earlier today. I watch your developments like a hawk these days. LOL! They look great and thanks for the tip of the hat. I've got so many components due in from all over the world but they all have their own delays. Xbox memory chips arrived yesterday though and I'm trying @Cian Cunningham's cable mod shortly plus @N64 freak's internal HDMI magic is inbound as well. I'm going to need to get a second job soon though. LOL!

Oh, I did not know this. That makes sense. Maybe one day I'll get my hands on an OGX360 so that I'll know its ins and outs too. LOL! Regarding the X3CP USB ports, I've never used them. I am on the fence whether I want to just tap into them for this mod or not. It's a nice and clean solution with using it though.

You'll need to put the bottom-most folder (including its contents) for each skin into the skins folder for UnleashX. For the InfraSkin Cyan, I've indicated (in the below image) the folder that needs to be copied. Once copied, go to the UnleashX skin menu and, if you did it correctly, you will see InfraSkin Cyan listed.

@Anarchy42085 Guess what? We didn't factor in a solution for a wired Xbox 360 Controller which can be connected to port 1 of the OGX360. Do I hear a 6th relay calling? LOL! This mod would be easy on an X3CP. USB Port A could be for the Xbox 360 Wireless Receiver and USB Port B could be used for the optional wired Xbox 360 controller. How cool would that be?

Funny thing is that I just had this happen to me with one of the Xboxes that I'm working on. I ended up disconnecting the yellow power connector to the DVD Drive and everything works perfectly fast now. It has a Samsung DVD Drive in it and this is the only Xbox that I have that isn't using a StarTech IDE to SATA adapter.

You'll need to keep it in the other Xbox with the Xecuter 2.6 and then unlock it (e.g. with the tools on the HeXEn DVD). Once it is unlocked then your other Xbox with the X3 will be able to use it.

Check Amazon and eBay using '18" ide ultra cable'. For eBay, sort it by lowest cost (including shipping). I like the 'StarTech.com' cable. (I wouldn't recommend this super bright yellow cable at Amazon as the middle connector wasn't connected on two of the cables that I bought.) When you see something, just look for the blue connector (for connecting to your IDE to SATA adapter) and that there are two other connectors (which will be used for connecting to the mobo and DVD drive). (I also use the red StarTech.com IDE2SATA2 adapter.) https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=18%22+ide+ultra+cable&ref=nb_sb_noss https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=18%22+ide+ultra+cable&_sop=15